Fulton Street Chamber Players at Folio: Fall Concert

Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum is pleased to welcome back the Seattle-based Chamber Players, anchored by Walter Gray (cello) and Rachel Swerdlow (violin), for our fall concert. The duo will be joined by  Hal Grossman and Brittany Boulding Breeden (violin), and  Stephen Balderston (cello). The evening will feature  performances of Beethoven string quartet Op. 74 "Harp" and Glazunov string quintet Op. 39. 

Performances will be in the round, which puts audience members close enough to read the music on the stands. Join us for this intimate concert and wine reception.

About the performers 

Walter Gray has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Mexico, the Far East, and Europe, including performances in Moscow, Odessa, Zagreb, Seoul, and Tokyo. He was a founding member of the Kronos Quartet and for over five years presented hundreds of concerts including numerous world premieres. He has continued to be a new music enthusiast performing with the New Performance Group, Quake, and Music of Remembrance. A member of the Seattle Symphony since 1979, Mr. Gray has performed as soloist with the orchestra several times. He has taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo, Mills College, Cornish College of the Arts, Western Washington University, the University of North Texas, and Seattle University.

Rachel Swerdlow has been a member of the Seattle Symphony viola section since 1987. Originally from New York, she attended Juilliard’s Pre-College Division, Curtis Institute of Music and graduated with highest honors from the State University of New York at Stony Brook with a B.A. in Music History and Theory. She earned a Master's Degree in Performance from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she also taught music history to undergraduates and coached chamber music in the school’s Prep Department. Principal teachers include Eugene Becker, John Graham, and Isadore Tinkleman. Rachel was a Fellow at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood, attended the Taos, N.M. Chamber Music School and The Quartet Program in Troy, N.Y. She served as principal viola of the Santa Rosa Symphony and the Colorado Philharmonic and is a regular participant in the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Violinist Hal Grossman has been hailed by critics for his "tremendous virtuosic technique" and "outstanding artistic sense". As concerto soloist, he has appeared with American, European and Canadian orchestras including the Rochester Philharmonic, the North Carolina Symphony, Polish Sinfonietta, the Illinois, Lima, Guelph and Battle Creek symphonies.

Violinist Brittany Boulding Breeden, member of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera Orchestra, has appeared most recently as a soloist with the Olympia Symphony, Northwest Sinfonietta, Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Festival Orchestra, Thalia Symphony Orchestra, Cascade Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestras, Spoleto USA, and the Orquesta de Camara Concerto Sur (Cuba).  Her major music festival appearances include Tanglewood, Spoleto, Aspen, Vail, Banff and Bellingham. A passionate chamber musician, she can be seen performing at chamber festivals such as the Methow Valley, Simple Measures, Second City, Seasons, Russian Chamber Music Foundation, Guemes Island, Vashon, Bainbridge, Auburn, Cornish, Jacobsen and New Lens Series.

Stephen Balderston joined the DePaul School of Music faculty as String Coordinator and Professor of Cello after twenty successful years as an orchestra and chamber musician. Balderston served as Assistant Principal Cello with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for ten years after ten years with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He performed as soloist with both orchestras and was an artist-in-residence at Washington University. Balderston began his studies on the cello with Gabor Rejto in his native southern California, and earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Lynn Harrell. A sought-after soloist, chamber musician and coach, Balderston participates in clinics, chamber music concerts and festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad.